Will Kerosene Damage Car Paint? (Explained)

If you want to clean or wash your car with a element like detergent or soap, you will get other options, including kerosene. But you have to be careful about the car paint since it is crucial and sensitive. You don’t want to damage the beautiful paint.

You have to be careful about it once you want to wash the car or apply some kerosene. It will only give an oily texture to the dry paint. Let’s get to it and explore what kerosene exactly does.

Will kerosene damage car paint?

Kerosene will damage the car paint. It’s a crude version of petroleum jelly that will damage the wax and finish of the car paint if you use it for a long time. You will not face any instant issue, but the kerosene will fade away the wax in the long run. So, you should avoid using it on any paint.

Kerosene harms the paint by departing all the ingredients. That’s why kerosene is not safe for car paint. If you wash the car with kerosene or apply a small amount on a specific part of the car, it will damage that area.

Moreover, paint sticks to the car skin or aluminum skins. They have an adhesive ingredient to attach to the car’s surface. When you apply kerosene to the paint, it loosens all the adhesive ingredients and fades away the finishing.

You should always avoid using kerosene wash, although it’s not a popular method to clean the car. Some people might want to experience it, but it is a worse way of thinking. Kerosene is for the engines or the heating boilers.

If you kerosene washes your car and pass through some fire, your car will attract the fire within a second. It is super fire attractive, which might lead you to an accident. 

How harsh is kerosene on car paint?

Kerosene is not too harsh on car paint because most oil paint is made with pure kerosene. But you should not use the diesel kerosene applied to the engine.

You should collect the refined kerosene and use it to polish the car paint with a minimal amount.

But the diesel fuel will be harsh on car paint. It will fade away the paint and do some other damages as well. You cannot even think of using diesel fuel to polish or shine. It will remove the car paint entirely.

The car paint especially has adhesive ingredients that help it stick to the car skin. If you apply any kerosene, it will fade away the elements and eventually remove the paint. It will be better to use car polish to get a better and safer result.

Moreover, the kerosene will damage the paint quality if it isn’t entirely removed. However, you can still apply a safe amount of kerosene to make the paint smooth and shining.

Does kerosene remove car paint?

Kerosene doesn’t remove the car paint at the first attempt. But it will damage the wax and the color coating of the paint. No matter what paint you use on your car, you should avoid using kerosene. It will damage the quality and get through the paint.

As a result, you will find faded paint on your car. Significantly, if you don’t wipe the kerosene using cloths and let it dry on car paint, it will damage the entire car paint by softening the Texture. In the long run, it will remove car paint.

Does diluted kerosene damage car paint?

Some car owners use diluted kerosene to clean their car paint or remove the strong dirt. Kerosene indeed helps get rid of strong stains and dirt effortlessly, but it’s not the ideal practice.

You will find different well-known and famous car washing brands that come up with car cleaners to help remove strong dirt. Therefore, you don’t need to dilute it by mixing water and kerosene and applying it to your car paint.

The diluted kerosene also damages the car paint through its harsh chemical or ingredients.

Though it is not harsh and does the damage like original kerosene, you can use it to some extent. It will be best to avoid all types of kerosene to avoid paint damage.

Why do people wash cars with kerosene?

People believe that kerosene can easily remove most debris and strong dust from car paint. That’s why people wash cars with kerosene. It doesn’t matter whether it is damaging the car paints or maybe they don’t know it.

Another reason is the availability and ease of use. You can buy a small amount of kerosene and add some water. It will become dilute kerosene that you can use on almost every solid surface.

But people’s trust is not entirely accurate or false. The truth is the cleaning ability of the kerosene. It can truly clean debris and stains from the car paint and give it a shiny look.

But the false or damaging part is that kerosene can damage the car paint by removing or detaching adhesive ingredients.

Is it good to wash my car with kerosene?

It is not good to wash your car with kerosene; it’s a weird idea to do so. You should never try to clean the car paint with kerosene. It will damage the car skin and remove the paint in long-term use.

You should wash your car with regular washing ingredients; kerosene is not ideal for washing your vehicle.

It will damage the entire car paint and fade away the original color. If you wash the car with kerosene, it will penetrate the paint and detach the ingredients.

You can go to a car wash shop and ask the mechanic to clean your car with premium quality ingredients. They will use the best cleaners or detergent to go with your car paint and don’t ruin the structure.

What happens if you wash car with kerosene?

If you wash a car with kerosene, it will damage the car paint from different angles. We found some common damages if you wash a car with kerosene.

Clean the surface:

Kerosene can genuinely clean the surface and remove all the stains and strong dirt. You need to scrub a bit, and kerosene will do the rest. This is the only positive thing if you use kerosene on the car paint.

Damage to the paint:

Kerosene will damage the car paint by detaching or removing all crucial ingredients of the paint.

Typically, kerosene is used to remove old paint and apply the new one. If you have vivid paint and don’t want to remove it, you should not use kerosene.

Fade the color:

Kerosene will fade away the color of the paint. Especially if you leave it and let it dry, it will go through the paint and damage the ingredients. As a result, the color and the bright finish will fade away.

Oily Texture:

if you use kerosene on the car paint, it will leave an oily texture. You cannot make it smooth or remove the oil from there. It will be slippery as well; you will find the soft paint that might come off the skin in the near future.

Is kerosene an alternative to claying?

No, kerosene is not an alternative to claying; they are entirely different. You should not apply kerosene over the car paint to get benefits. You can go for the claying. It will make the polishing and paint durable and shiny.

Claying is the most common and effective way to get a durable finishing. After washing the car, you can do it; it will remove the paint contaminants. So, you don’t apply the kerosene over paint to remove dust and paint things.

Kerosene does damage the car paint, but claying is safe. Claying is a usual and effective process, whereas kerosene is weird to apply to car paint. That’s why kerosene is not an alternative to claying.

Does paraffin damage car paint?

A mixture of saturated hydrocarbons and distilled petroleum is called Paraffin, similar to kerosene oil. But, Paraffin doesn’t do any harm or damage car paint if you use it with water.

You should not apply the Paraffin directly to the car paint. It will damage the paint by fading away from the color and harming the existing shiny finish.

It is also safe to use dilute Paraffin on the car paint. It will help you remove the strong dirt and clean the surface within a while. Mainly, if you have an aluminum body frame, Paraffin will not do any harm to it.

Final thoughts

Kerosene and car paint don’t go with each other. Since kerosene has hydrocarbon and paraffin oil, it can damage the car paint. If you use it for a long time, the kerosene will fade the color. On the other hand, the kerosene will remove the paint from the car if you let it dry on the car.